The present invention concerns a mounting arrangement for a wheel belonging to a product pick-up or collection apparatus.
FR-A1-2 766 322 discloses a harvested product pick-up or collection apparatus with support wheels that are each attached to a side wall by a bracket. The bracket is held by vertical and horizontal bearings so that it can be pivoted both vertically and horizontally, such that the support wheel is pivotable into a free space behind the pick-up to reduce its transport width.
WO-A1-98/17096 discloses a support wheel attached to each side of a pickup by a bracket that is configured in the form of an inverted xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d. The size, shape, and design of the bracket are selected so that a large free space exists between the wheel and the pick-up, which prevents the build-up of harvested product.
While the first-listed prior art document discloses the desirable feature of being able to narrow the transport width, the design has the drawback of being relatively expensive. The attachment of the wheel in the second-listed prior art document does not have the feature of being able to move the wheels to a narrowed transport position.
According to the present invention, there is provided an improved arrangement for attaching support wheels to a harvested crop pick-up.
A broad object of the invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive wheel mounting arrangement which permits the wheel to be easily moved between working and non-use or transport positions.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a wheel mounting arrangement, as set forth in the previous object, wherein the wheel may be adjusted between different vertical positions relative to the pick-up.
Yet another specific object of the invention is to provide a wheel mounting arrangement, as set forth in the first object, wherein the wheel is retained in its various adjusted positions with a fastener requiring no tools to install or to remove it.
These and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the ensuing description together with the appended drawings.